Digital Design – Week 1 Thoughts

It’s been a nice long break from study, as last TP I managed to get my last assignments in a little early, but now it’s time to get back into it. This TP I am doing Digital Design, Visual Communication, and an elective called Digital Communities.

I’ve been told that Digital Design is all about Illustrator and Photoshop, which is great because I need to improve my skills with both programs. If I can get faster and more efficient with the software, then I can do my future assignments faster and I’ll have a better idea of what’s achievable.

Our first assignment for Digital Design is to create three paper aeroplanes, which will be delivered as flat pieces of paper with assembly instructions. The three planes should be decorated with a common theme and they haven’t placed any restrictions on themes, which just makes it harder to choose something!

Some initial thoughts on themes:

Reflections of above and below (sky scenes for the top of the plane, land scenes for the bottom)

Evolution of flight technology (not an entirely original idea as I saw something similar projected onto Questacon at the Enlighten Festival this year or last

Something environmental (carbon emissions, global warming, etc)

Recycling (because, paper)

I’m leaning towards the first idea, but have been puzzling over what to do for the underside of the plane, because all the examples that I’ve seen, the bottom has just been a pattern which means it doesn’t matter if the plane is folded badly. I think it would be smarter to put the main design on the top surface and have the bottom just be something complementary.